Portfolio Design Labs LLC Buys 7,927 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Portfolio Design Labs LLC boosted its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 32.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,378 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,927 shares during the quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $2,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 722 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 69.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 475 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 6.5% in the third quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,278 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 3.3% in the third quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,329 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $471,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 20.9% in the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 1,209 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho lowered their price target on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.36.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:EQR opened at $71.44 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.74. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $57.33 and a 52-week high of $78.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $27.11 billion, a PE ratio of 26.26, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.93.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.26%.

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

In other news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $46,262.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,840,340.34. This trade represents a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Robert Garechana sold 4,294 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $309,425.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,016,622.48. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,217. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Company Profile

Equity Residential is committed to creating communities where people thrive. The Company, a member of the S&P 500, is focused on the acquisition, development and management of residential properties located in and around dynamic cities that attract affluent long-term renters. Equity Residential owns or has investments in 305 properties consisting of 80,683 apartment units, with an established presence in Boston, New York, Washington, DC, Seattle, San Francisco and Southern California, and an expanding presence in Denver, Atlanta, Dallas/Ft.